BC Check-Up 2017

As leaders in analysing and validating information, CPAs are often called upon to provide independent, fair, and objective information to assist in decision-making. It is with this goal in mind that CPABC prepares the BC Check-Up each year.

BC Check-Up Video

This annual economic report uses selected economic and social indicators to evaluate BC as a place to work, invest, and live. To provide context, BC’s progress levels are compared with those of Alberta and Ontario, as well as Canada as a whole.

2016 Summary

In terms of economic growth in 2016, BC led the rest of the provinces with a 3.7% real GDP growth rate, the highest in Canada 1. Our province’s economic growth was fueled by robust in-migration and strong activity in the housing market. This generated employment in housing-related industries, such as construction and finance, insurance and real estate. BC’s pool of investors and qualified workers in high technology also fueled growth in the information, communication, and technology industries, while the weak Canadian dollar and BC’s outstanding scenery attracted more film industry production, as well as tourists from around the world.

Employment in BC rose by 73,300 jobs in 2016, reaching a total of 2.38 million. Approximately 85.0% of these new jobs were generated in the service sector. The unemployment rate in BC declined to 6.0% last year, following nine successive years of general decline, and it waned further in the first half of 2017, down to 5.6% in May 2 . However, many of these positive effects were concentrated largely in Southwest BC and the Vancouver Island/Coast Development Region, while several resource-dependent regions actually experienced economic slowdown and increases in unemployment.

The value of BC’s exports strengthened in 2016, rising by 8.5% to $39 billion. The US market accounted for three-quarters of this gain, and lumber made up half of it. BC also saw a hike in the export value of aluminium, coal, and natural gas exports, after losing ground in 2015 3. Domestically, consumer spending in BC continued to swell in response to job creation and the wealth effect associated with rising housing prices. As of April 2017, retail trade was up 7.1% over the same period in 2016.

BC’s population grew by 1.25% in 2016, with an absolute increase of 58,659 residents, to reach 4.75 million. Net in-migration accounted for 49,489 of these new residents, split almost evenly between international and interprovincial residents 4. Most of these new residents settled in southern BC, particularly Southwest BC and the Vancouver Island/Coast Development Region, while the North Coast, Nechako, and Cariboo development regions witnessed net population outflows.

The BC government’s fiscal position remained positive in 2016/2017, registering its fifth successive balanced budget in a row. Our province’s net debt-to-GDP ratio declined by 0.6 percentage points to 15.3%, one of the lowest ratios in the country, thereby sustaining our high credit rating.

1 Estimate, TD Economics, Provincial Economic Forecast, June 22, 2017. Note that this estimate is higher than the 3.3% growth rate cited in Regional Check-Up earlier this year, sourced from TD Economics’ March 27, 2017 edition.2Statistics Canada, Economic Indicators, by province and territory (monthly and quarterly), British Columbia. Accessed July 6, 2017.3 BC Stats, Annual BC Origin Exports, April 2017.4 Internal migration is that from other provinces or from elsewhere within the same province.